


Life as a Possibility

by Chichirinoda



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-12
Updated: 2010-06-12
Packaged: 2017-10-14 07:53:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/147055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chichirinoda/pseuds/Chichirinoda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short snippet set at the inception of the Embryon Tribe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life as a Possibility

Gale was going to die.

He couldn't remember how long he'd been in the wasteland, scratching out a meagre existence in the spaces between the Tribes, but it looked like it wasn't going to last much longer. He had been ambushed by a squadron of rookies who appeared to have banded together - not a Tribe, but something less than that. A group of desperate rogues who relied on one another for survival, but would likely shoot each other in the backs if it would save their lives.

Gale didn't yet know the word for honour, but he knew they didn't have any.

But that didn't really matter right now. He was pinned down behind a tumbledown wreck of a concrete wall barely large enough to provide cover for his whole body. It was already riddled with bullet holes, and he hoped its structural integrity would hold as more bullets chewed it up or whizzed past over his head and to either side.

Then a monstrous explosion shook the whole area. Gale ducked his head down and rolled into a ball as shrapnel and rock dust rained down all around him. He thought for a moment that his attackers had brought out some devastating new weapon, but then he heard the high-pitched shrieking of a badly wounded man who needed to be put out of his misery.

He paused for a moment, calculating odds, then poked his head cautiously up to see.

Three of his attackers were nothing more than red stains on the ground. The fourth lay where he was, writhing and shrieking in agony, his mangled hands covering a face that could no longer properly be called a face. A moment later, a single well-placed bullet ended his suffering.

There was a scrabbling sound on the slope above him and Gale rolled onto his back, bringing his rifle up to point, his finger squeezing on the trigger.

There was someone scrambling down the slope towards him, and something about his body language made Gale pause instead of blowing his head off. A moment later another rookie landed in a crouch ten feet away, his hands up in submission. His silver hair almost perfectly matched their eyes and the grey of their uniforms.

Gale lowered the gun. "You saved my life," he said, a simple statement of fact. "Why?"

"I've decided to form a new Tribe," the other man said, his voice soft. "I've been watching you, and I want you to help me."

"Who are you?" Gale asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Serph. And you?"

"Gale."

There was silence for a moment, then Gale nodded once. "I will help you."

There was a ghost, just a trace of smile on Serph's face. Then it was gone an instant later, too quickly for Gale to be sure he'd seen it. The silver-haired man held out a hand and Gale took it, and found himself hauled to his feet.

They stood for a moment, hands clasped.

"Come," said Gale's new leader, letting go and turning away. "I believe I have found a place that will be defensible. The others are already there, but we will need to recruit more."

Gale nodded and moved off after Serph. Maybe life was a possibility after all.


End file.
